ALBUMHigh Violet (Bonus Track Version)The National
ALBUMHigh Violet (Expanded Edition)The National
ALBUMBoxer (Bonus Track Version)The National
ALBUMAlligatorThe National
ALBUMCherry Tree (2021 Remaster)The National
The National's Popular Music Videos
The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift) [Lyric Video]
The National
coney island (feat. The National) [Lyric Video]
Taylor Swift
Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver) [Lyric Video]
The National
Chvrches + the National: Taleswappers
Live Nation TV
Bloodbuzz Ohio
The National
Eucalyptus
The National
Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
The National
Light Years
The National
Hey Rosey
The National
Day I Die
The National
Artist Playlists
The National Essentials
Both brooding and melancholic, this band of brothers are far from quiet company.
The National: Deep Cuts
Bleak, cryptic tales with an air of cinematic romanticism.
The National: Influences
The ghosts of post-punk past meet latter-day singer/songwriters.
Inspired by The National
Gloomy post-punk and indie rock for 21st-century ennui.
The National's First Two Pages of Frankenstein Tour
Listen to the hits performed on their blockbuster tour.
Artist Biography
As Brooklyn established itself as indie rock’s focal point with the start of a new century, The National emerged there as moody underdogs transplanted from Cincinnati, Ohio. Featuring two sets of brothers and an instantly distinctive singer in Matt Berninger, the band leaned into the country-tinged melancholy of Tindersticks and Silver Jews on 2001’s self-titled debut. But they didn’t break through properly until their fourth album, 2007’s Boxer, from which Barack Obama used the song “Fake Empire” in his election campaign. By then the band were applying the sweeping and surging aspects of classical music to their Pixies-esque rock impulses, complete with grand flourishes of strings, horns, and piano. With a heightened atmosphere stoked by multi-instrumentalists Bryce and Aaron Dessner and drummer Bryan Devendorf, whose quietly unconventional work oftens pops and sparks like firecrackers, Berninger holds forth with a tender, confiding baritone that radiates bruised romance. Meanwhile, his lyrics unfold like emotional puzzles: mysterious on the surface but rich with hidden meaning. After two decades together, The National stretched out anew on 2019’s I Am Easy to Find, recruiting a wide cast of guest vocalists. And Aaron Dessner became Taylor Swift’s close collaborator on her two surprise albums in 2020—which culminated in the whole band appearing on “coney island.”